CANADA STOCKS-TSX to open lower on weak China factory data

Reuters Staff

4 Min Read

Sept 1 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index looked set to open lower on Tuesday after data showed China's manufacturing sector shrank at its fastest pace in three years, further stoking fears about the health of the world's second-largest economy.

The data helped spur a sharp fall in oil prices, which is likely to weigh on the energy-heavy Canadian stock index.

Statistics Canada's gross domestic product data for the second quarter, due later Tuesday, is expected to show cheaper oil prices weighed on Canada's economy in the second quarter.

The economy is forecast to have contracted at a 1.0 percent annualized rate in the quarter, putting the country into recession. The data is due at 08:30 a.m. ET.

September futures on the S&P TSX index were down 2.32 percent at 7:15 a.m. ET on Tuesday.

A sharp jump in energy stocks as crude oil prices soared was not enough to push Canada's main stock index into positive territory on Monday.

The index, which had been steadily declining since April, sank to its lowest level since 2013 last week on investor worries over China's economic growth.

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